Civic Journalism: Savior of Newspapers in the 21st Century?

By Chris Peck Editor The Spokesman-Review Excerpts of remarks by Chris Peck, Editor, The Spokesman-Review, Aug. 6, 1999, at the Pew Center Luncheon during the AEJMC Convention, New Orleans: This year, newspapers of 20,000 circulation and up will earn a profit of at least 20%, and often much more. … Indeed, this is one of […]

Civic Journalist Turns Civic Mayor

By Pat Ford Pew Center As editor of the Bradenton Herald, Wayne Poston launched a community-wide debate over the need to build a new municipal building on prime waterfront real estate. Now, as mayor of the city of Bradenton, Poston sits in that spanking new municipal building overlooking the waterfront. The irony is not lost […]

10 Tips on Award-Winning Civic Journalism

By Leonard Witt Executive Director, Civic Journalism Initiative Minnesota Public Radio, St. Paul These lessons were inspired by “The Guinea Pig Kids,” an MPR series that won an honorable mention in the 2001 Batten Awards for Excellence in Civic Journalism and a first-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists for public service. Require total […]

The New York Times: A Civic Nomination

By James Fallows Slate, Dec. 3, 2001 Reprinted with permission The New York Times has been tremendous since Sept. 11. More war-related stories each day than you can actually read. Analytical and investigative pieces that anticipate what you’d want to know. Even the color in the photos … has had a weird neon intensity that seems […]

We Know What They Want

San Jose Mercury News Editor David Yarnold addressed more than 100 participants in San Francisco on Jan. 11 at the Pew/Maynard workshop, “Community Media Connections.” Some highlights: Happy New Year and welcome to the second largest city in the Bay Area. I’d like to show you how the Mercury News began the new year. It’s […]

Public Journalism Primer

Dave Iverson Executive Producer WHA-TV Madison, Wisc.   “Roger Mudd once asked: Why is it that politicians don’t give speeches any more? How come we just see them in hard hats, walking around and looking at lathes?   “The answer, of course, is that a politician in a hard hat is more likely to show […]

Out of the Pressbox, onto the Field

By Edward M. Fouhy Executive Director Pew Center for Civic Journalism After a year’s work and more than 40 trips around the country, it has become apparent that civic journalism is no longer a fragile seedling struggling to stay alive. It has become a topic of conversation among both journalists and community activists, the phrase […]

Creating New Habits

To: WSOC-TV,Charlotte, N.C., for “Carolina Crime Solutions” which was awarded the prestigious 1995 Sigma Delti Chi award for Public Service in Television Journalism for networks and top 40 markets.   To: The St. Paul Pioneer Press for its 10-week “Safer Cities” series, which received:   The 1995 Frank J. Premack Memorial Award, which recognizes reporting of unusual […]

What’s Happening in Pew Center Projects

Peoria, Ill. PARTNERS: THE JOURNAL STAR, WMBD-TV(CBS),WMBD-AM, WTVP (PBS),WCBU-FM (NPR), ILLINOIS CENTRAL COLLEGE OF PEORIA AND BRADLEYUNIVERSITY The paper kicked off its “Leadership Challenge” coverage in January with a series of stories about the dearth of leaders. “Before, the staff had doubts about whether this was a story,” said managing editor Jack Brimeyer. “Now they […]